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The study of homosexuality in Mexico can be divided into three separate periods, coinciding with the three main periods of Mexican history: pre-Columbian, colonial, and post-independence, in spite of the fact that the rejection of homosexuality forms a connecting thread that crosses the three periods. The data on the pre-Columbian people and those of the period of colonization is scarce and obscure. Historians often described the indigenous customs that surprised them or that they disapproved of, but tended to take a position of accusation or apology, which makes it impossible to distinguish between reality and propaganda. In general, it seems that the Mexica were as homophobic as the Spanish, and that other indigenous peoples tended to be much more tolerant,〔(Chronology of Mexican Gay History ) Len Evans. Accessed 21-03-2008〕 to the point of honoring Two-Spirit people as shamans. The history of homosexuality in the colonial period and after independence is still in great part yet to be studied. Above all, the 1658 executions of sodomites and the 1901 Dance of the Forty-One, two great scandals in Mexican public life, dominate the scene. The situation is changing in the 21st century, in part thanks to the discovery of the LGBT community as potential consumers, the so-called pink peso, and tourists. Laws have been created to combat discrimination (2003), and two federal entities, the Federal District and Coahuila, have legalized civil unions for same-sex couples (2007). On December 21, 2009, despite opposition from the Church, the Government of Mexico City approved same-sex marriage, with 39 votes in favor, 20 against and 5 abstaining. It was the first city in Latin America to do so.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= ALDF aprueba matrimonios gay, con adopción :: Noticieros Televisa )〕 However, in 2007 Mexico was still one of the countries in which the most crimes are committed against the LGBT community, with a person being murdered in a homophobic crime every two days. ==Precolumbian era== The majority of information on the pre-Columbian peoples comes from the reports of the Spanish conquest. These accounts must be taken with caution, given that the accusation of sodomy was used to justify the conquest, along with other accusations real or invented, such as human sacrifice, cannibalism, or idolatry. Given that the defenders of the natives manipulated information as much as those who opposed them, some trying to minimise the incidence of sodomy and others exaggerating the stories, it is impossible to get an accurate picture of homosexual behavior in pre-Columbian Mexico. The historian Antonio de Herrera arrived at that conclusion as early as 1601. Among the indigenous peoples of the Americas the institution of the two-spirit people was widespread. The two-spirits, originally considered hermaphrodites and called "berdache" by the Spanish conquistadors, were men who took feminine duties and behaviors. They were considered neither men nor women by their societies, but were considered like a third sex and often held spiritual functions. The conquistadors often thought of them as passive homosexuals, and they were treated with contempt and cruelty. Among Mayans, there was a strong association between ritual and homosexual behavior. Some shamans engaged in homosexual acts with their patients, and priests engaged in ritualized homosexual acts with their gods.〔 According to a 17th-century Franciscan friar, Fray Juan de Torquemada, teen-aged males were given pubescent boys to serve as partners until marriage, at which time the younger partner was given a pubescent boy of his own.〔Neill, p. 56.〕 When the Toltecs arrived to conquer the region, they brought more sodomy and public sex of all kinds. Then when Itzá conquered the area, they brought more sodomy, more eroticism and extensive sexual ceremonies.〔Peter Herman Sigal. ''From moon goddesses to virgins: the colonization of Yucatecan Maya sexual desire''. p. 213. University of Texas Press, 2000. ISBN 0-292-77753-1.〕 However, the Maya, as a people with a hybrid culture, had differing views on homosexual sodomy. The Maya Chilam Balam books, for example, regularly contained sexual insults directed toward the Itzá. According to mythology contained in the book, sodomites were responsible for destroying the order of Maya society by producing illegitimate children through their anuses who were unable to run society. The Zapotecs of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southeastern Mexico did not develop a culture of conquest, which may explain their relaxed attitude toward masculinity.〔Reding, p. 18.〕 Homosexual behavior was common among males of all ages. Boys began having sex with other males during puberty and would continue having sex with other men through their twenties. By the time they were thirty most males were married and had children, but as with the Mayans, homosexual relations continued even after marriage. In fact, it was not uncommon for a Zapotec man to leave a marriage after his children were grown and move in with another male lover.〔Neill, p. 27.〕 The Zapotecs developed the concept of a third gender, which they referred to as ''muxe'', as an intermediate between male and female who played both gender roles in everyday life.〔 It is important to note that “two-spirit” (and similar native terms) refer to gender, not sexual orientation. “Two-spirit” individuals may be heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual. To date, ''muxes'' still exist among Zapotec people and play a crucial role within the community. In the Valley of Mexico, the Aztecs lived in urban centers such as Texcoco, Tlatelolco, and Tenochitlan. From there, they politically dominated most of Mesoamerica and extracted a heavy tribute of raw materials, finished products, slaves, and sacrificial victims.〔Dynes, Johansson, Percy and Donaldson, p. 803.〕 The Aztecs exhibited a profound duality in their approach to sexual behavior. On one hand, they held public rituals which were at times very erotic, but on the other, they were extremely prudish in everyday life. In their pantheon, the Aztecs worshiped a deity, Xochiquetzal, who was the goddess of non-procreative sexuality and love, and both female and male at the same time. In her male aspect, called Xochipilli, was worshiped as the deity of male homosexuality and male prostitution.〔Dynes, Johansson, Percy and Donaldson, p. 804.〕 The mythical history of the Aztec people was divided into four "worlds", of which the previous had been "an easy, weak life, of sodomy, perversion, of the dance of the flowers and of adoration to Xochiquétzal", in which the "masculine virtues of war, management and wisdom" were forgotten. It is possible that this story made reference to the Toltecs.〔 In the majority of cases, they allowed the people they conquered to maintain their own customs. Nonetheless, Aztecs placed a high premium on "manly", "assertive" behavior, and a corresponding stigma on "submissive" behavior. When conquered people were not sacrificed on temple altars, the males of conquered nations were often demoted to the status of women.〔Reding, p. 17.〕 The penalties for male homosexual intercourse were severe. Mexica law punished sodomy with the gallows, impalement for the active homosexual, extraction of the entrails through the anal orifice for the passive homosexual, and death by garrote for the lesbians. In Tenochtitlan, they hanged homosexuals. In nearby Texcoco, the active partner was "bound to a stake, completely covered with ashes and so left to die; the entrails of the passive agent were drawn out through his anus, he was then covered with ashes, and wood being added, the pile was ignited."〔 Some authors state that these strict laws were not used in practice and that homosexuals were relatively free. For example, they cite Spanish chronicles that speak of widespread sodomy that included children of up to 6 years or of children dressed like women to practice prostitution. The chronicles also speak of religious acts in which sodomy was practiced. The existence of lesbianism is testified to by the Nahuatl word "patlacheh", which designates a woman who carries out masculine activities, including the penetration of other women, as revealed in the ''General history of the matters of New Spain'' by Bernardino de Sahagún.〔 In spite of the puritanism of the Mexica, the sexual customs of the people conquered by the Aztec Empire varied to a great extent. For example, Bernal Díaz del Castillo speaks of homosexuality among the ruling classes, prostitution of young people, and cross-dressing in the area of Veracruz.〔 The ''yauyos'' had prostitution houses full of men with painted faces and women's clothing. The Toltecs, elsewhere, were extremely tolerant of homosexuality.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「LGBT history in Mexico」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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